Stockholm, a city on the water, is set at the convergence of two archipelagoes: fresh-water Lake Mälaren stands on one side; the salt-water Baltic Sea on the other. A mosaic of convex rocky islands occupies the space between the two. These islands and water shape the essential geographic qualities of the Swedish capital.
The design of Sjövik Square (Sjövikstorget) draws on these properties. Situated on the Årstadal quay, the square opens toward the water and the greater landscape. To reinforce this basic intention, the square takes form as a softly sloping plane angled toward water and the view.
A pair of hundred-meter-long wooden promenades frames the plaza and brackets the view. Along their outer edges, surfaces for sitting encourage contact with the social life of the plaza. A pier hovering above the water extends forty meters beyond the quay at the plaza’s eastern limit.
Included in the design is a 35-meter-wide water feature: its thin curtain of water, popular with children, rushes over a surface sheathed with Norwegian slate. Partly integrated in the water is a sculpture by the artist Jan Svenungsson. Partly integrated in the water is a sculpture by the artist Jan Svenungsson. This artwork consists of three very large boulders, one engraved with headlines drawn from Stockholm newspapers’ front pages commemorating the date the boulder was placed.
To borrow a distant landscape aided by a framed view is a classic technique used in Japanese gardens. It is a logical practice: at times the strongest features of a site actually may lie beyond its immediate borders. This is also true for Sjövik Square, where what lies within its boundaries joins with what lies beyond.
Sjövik Square, Årstadal, Stockholm, Sweden
Landscape architect: Thorbjörn Andersson @ Sweco Architects
Design team: PeGe Hillinge, Jimmy Norrman, Emma Norrman, Lin Wiklund, Helena Björnberg (lighting)
Area: 12,000 square meters
Opened: 2010
SWECO Architects
P.O. Box 17920
SE- 118 95 Stockholm, Sweden
Telephone +46 8 522 952 00
For further information contact
Thorbjörn Andersson, Sweco Architects
www.thorbjorn-andersson.com
